Tunisia cuts 2013 GDP forecast

Tunisia has cut 2013 GDP growth forecast to 3.6 percent, in a second reduction of its prediction since the beginning of the year, a minister said Friday. "We envision 3.6 percent in 2013, or a drop of 0.4 percentage point from our (previous) target," Development and International Cooperation Minister Lamine Doghri told a news conference. At the beginning of the year, authorities had forecast growth of 4.5 percent. As with the latest forecast, GDP grew 3.6 percent in 2012. Tunisia's economy has been suffering from repeated and protracted political crises since the 2011 ouster of former dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.